It has been talked about in close circles within the Black Nationalist and Black Freedom community for years. It is something, that if proven true, would destroy Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network. As painful as it is to imagine, Sharpton is accused of trying to set up Assata Shakur for arrest while she was on the run from law enforcement. The allegations are, that in 1983 for a period of two months, Sharpton met with members of Black Nationalist organizations in an upscale apartment at 30 Lincoln Plaza in Lincoln Center in New York City. The apartment was arranged by the FBI as a trap to lure suspected criminals to a secure area to be taped during conversations.
One of the men Sharpton approached was Ahmed Obafemi, a well known and respected member of the black community and well known activist. According to all accounts, Sharpton claimed he wanted to give money to Shakur and other black revolutionaries on run from the law, but he wanted a one-on-one meeting with Shakur. The deal fell through and the meeting never occurred because the Black Nationalist leadership did not trust Sharpton and sensed something was wrong.
According to a confidential source, “this comes up every few years about Sharpton. But we have never had definitive proof.” Sharpton did issue a very heated response earlier this week regarding the accusation. He stated that the people accusing him were liars and “an element in the black community that has lost out … and that will fabricate any story out of jealousy because they have no following.”
The response seemed an almost street level attack on the men who were also associates of the late Black Nationalist Chokwe Lumumba. It was Lumumba who stated his reservations about Sharpton’s intentions at this time. Lumumba was quoted as saying at one time “I can’t say that we were able to make any definite conclusions” about whether Sharpton was acting as an agent for the government. But now, with Sharpton’s cover blown, and his admission that he did work for the FBI; it’s becoming painfully apparent that another black leader is about to be discredited.
